Al Bergstein
Forum Replies Created
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Yes, I feel I’m missing some key element in your setup that I probably could understand if I was standing in front of it. Mixpre-D does specify a special cable that B&H sells for the unit. And yes, just like on a C100/300 I could see two differing audio levels in my camera.
In reading your post, I’m making some assumptions, one of which is that you are using the right kind of 3.5 cables coming in, which you seem to say you did use. (the stereo 3.5s and not mono). I have a Zoom H5 so I don’t know if you made an error setting up the Zoom.
I’ve loved the Mixpre-D as it does allow XLR mics to be piped into a 3.5″ jack with no issues for me.
As to the lock ups, yes, an hour in summer heat could do that to them. They are not setup with fans like the C300s. Not designed to be run as video cameras for that length of time. I’ve never had it lock up but I know of others that have. I feel that they were designed for short clips.
Glad it all worked out.
All the best.
Al
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By the way, the pre-amps in the Mkiii are not great but they are fine. I’ve done a lot of interviews with them, and they are vastly better than the previous one. I actually challenged the audio gurus on Cow (I spend time listening to them, as they have great ideas and a lot of experience) and they admitted that the pre-amps in my interview were fine.
This is one that was shot on the 5Dmkiii with a single lav mic. I thought it was fine, and doubt my C100 would do any better, or just recording it to a separate recorder.
All the best.
Al
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Grant, if I needed to do what you were looking to do, I’d use my Sound Devices Mixpre-D. I don’t know of any problem in bringing in a stereo signal to the MKiii, as you can buy a stereo mic from Rode, for example, and it works fine.
To be clear, normally I see the audio meter on the bottom of the screen showing two channels of audio coming in. (the meter has an upper and lower register to it). With a stereo mic, the meter should be showing the upper and lower split, just like your C300 does when you run two mics into it, or use an external feed and the camera mic.
I just thought I would check so I set up my Mixpre-D (with it’s special cable which has a dual tip (two blacks) on it. I plugged in one shotgun mic through it and the Canon definitely shows one channel of sound coming in.
If you were using standard Rode like mics that attach to the top of the unit, there is a stereo pair adapter I got from B&H. I can’t remember the manufacturer, but the unit has a B on it. On the front is two knobs for L & R, the back has three small inputs for standard camera mounted mics, and one output. With it I can dial in volume from each mic.
Either setup allows me to do two mics and the Canon shows stereo channel input. Once in my editor, I can split the two channels out into dual mono or use only one with the best feed.
Does that help?
Al
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Sorry, it’s been a while since I read the whole post. I see you do have 2 GBs on your video card. So not sure why there is a problem, other than the notion that the SSD drive could be the factor. As mentioned, I usually put my project footage on a RAID 5 to optimize the playback and rendering times.
Al
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Just to clear something up, it’s my belief that the RAM in the CPU (the 32GBs or whatever) is not what is determining how fast your footage runs, it’s the RAM in the Graphic Card CPU. So if you have 512MB or 1 GB in a graphic card, it will likely not be optimal for playback. I had to move to a 2GB card to get it to play smoothly. I use Canon AVCHD footage. Having the timeline scrub the footage (play through it once to load it into memory) also helps speed it up on future runs through it. But transcode if you feel it’s your best choice. It’s only time, and if you are not being paid for the work it’s just your time and not money. Or let the process run overnight.
Also, make sure that your footage is on a fast hard disk, preferably not the internal one! Also make sure that Pr is using your graphics card to process the footage and not RAM.
For those using a laptop that read this thread in the future, I disable “Automatic Graphics Switching” in the Energy Saver panel of System Preferences to help make sure I get full playback on the high performance card.
Al
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And I am also using Sony MDR-7506 headphones. My experience is that the MixPre-D noticeably improves such devices as a Zoom H4 and H5n which seem to have pre’s that are a bit ‘harsh” to my ears. When run through the mixpre prior to the recorders, the output seems more rounded at least to these ears. For comparison, I do not seem to need the mixpre for my Marantz PMD661. The pre’s in that seem fine.
Again, make sure you are using fresh batteries or plugged into AC.
Al
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No. I hear no hiss when I plug in my headphones, dial in 0 dB for them, and have my gain control for the mic at 11:00. I’m using batteries on both the unit and the mic ( an AT897) that read at or over 1.35V. There’s a sound floor that shows up close to +20 but it should.
Al
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Just as a follow up. If the client has dedicated internet at their location, why can’t their vendor just supply you another hard wired connection at the site for a day or two? Obviously there is capacity in the building from what you describe.
Al
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Where is your field location? Many hotels can provide you internet connectivity. And yes, 5Mb is what you should ask for as a minimum. I recently did a huge event in Bellevue WA and the hotel there was able to provide an open Ethernet connection for a fee. I would avoid using a wireless connection unless it is tested in advance. And if you find yourself in a location with nothing but wireless, you a lot more work to make sure that it will work before even signing up. Last year, I was paid to travel to CA to check out whether a remote location could be brought online, and in the end the client decided it was not worth the cost. But both the client and I were satisfied that I gave them a trusted source to get a report from as the local vendor was trying to convince them it would work just fine. In the end we determined that while the general area might have supported higher bandwidth, the specific location could not. Send your techie to check it out carefully in advance and don’t just believe the local vendors’ claims. Geography matters (G).
Al
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I just checked it out. No. At 11 O’clock position, there is no noise floor at all. First off, check your batteries to make sure they are good. I always put a meter on them and they should be above 1.3V. Below that I often notice noise on various devices, like mics that use batteries instead of phantom. If you use fresh batteries and are still getting a noise floor at 11 with a mic attached, contact Sound Devices and have them service it.
Al